Lamp shade and cover for lamp shade frames



Dec. 17, 1940. A. BURKE LAMP SHADE AND COVER FOR LAMP SHADE FRAMES Filed Oct. 12, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR I7LFR5D 5 RKE. m ATTORNEY Dec. 17, 1940. A. BURKE LAMP SHADE AND COVER FOR LAMP SHADE FRAMES Filed Oct. 12, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 R O T N w m3 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 17, 1940 UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFiQ' Alfred Burke, New York, N. Y. Application October 12, 1936,Serial No. 105,195

Claims.

'The present invention relates to lamp shades and to covers for lamp shade frames.

In accordance with the usual practice in the manufacture of lamp shades numerous tedious 5 and time consuming operations are necessary especially in fitting and securing the cover to the frame. Such operations include, among others, drawing the material tightly about the frame and stitching the material by hand to the frame. Not only does the stretching operation frequently result in considerable damage to the material, often damaging the cover to such an extent as to render the same unusable, but the cost of making the lamp shade even aside from the waste of material is relatively high due to the large amount of handwork which is required.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention to obviate these objections and disadvantages, and for that purpose to provide a. lamp shade cover of such character that it can be readily attached to the frame without stitching whereby to greatly reduce the amount of time and labor required and to obviate the possibility of damage to the material of the cover in attaching the same to the frame.

In the manufacture of covers for lamp shades of certain shapes, such as those which are frustoconical and pyramidal in peripheral outline, which have tops and bottoms of different sizes,

it has been necessary heretofore to cut the cover with the side edge which is attached to the top of the frame shorter than the side edge which is attached to the bottom of the frame. The necessity for thus cutting the cover blank in this manner results in a considerable waste of material. It is, therefore, another object of the present invention to eliminate this disadvantage and for that purpose to provide a cover consisting of a rectangular blank of material and combined with other elements of the finished cover whereby the latter can fit frames of the type referred to, notwithstanding the difference in dimensions between the top, and bottom of the frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lamp shade cover which is adjustable in size so that it can be used, within practical limits, on frames of different sizes.

A further object of the invention is to provide 0 a lamp shade cover which can be removably mounted as a unit on the lamp shade frame so that the cover may be readily detached from the frame and another cover of a similar construction substituted therefor. 5a further object of the invention is the provision of a lamp shade cover which is reversible whereby the appearance of the lamp shade may be varied with the use of one cover.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a coverwhich can be placed over the 5 covers of lamp shades without removing the covers previously attached thereto.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a jacket which may be utilized as a protective cover for completed lamp-shades.

The above objects of the invention, objects ancillary thereto, and other objects which might hereinafter appear are'accomplished by the constructions herein shown or described. For a complete understanding of such objects and some of the features and advantages of the present invention, reference is to be had to the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: 20

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a lamp shade embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is' a view similar to Fig. 1 showing, for the sake of.cleamess of illustration, only part of the lamp shade cover; 25

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cover removed from the frame;

Fig. 3a is a sectional view on the line 3a-3a of Fig. 3;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of 30 Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of lamp shades mounted on frames of difierent configurations;

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of the lamp shade 35 illustrated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a lamp shade embodying a lamp shade cover made in accordance with another form of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4 illus- 40 trating a reversible lamp shade cover;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of the blank of material and of the edging strips used in forming the shade cover;

Figs. 11 and 12 are fragmentary perspective 45 views showing further forms of the present invention;

Figs. 13 and 14 are sectional views on the lines l3l3 and H-ll of Figs. 11 and 12, respectively; and 60 Fig. 15 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 13 showing a modification.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the lampv shade cover [0 illustrated in Fig. 3 comprises a body portion 12 which may be made of any suitable fabric or material, such as silk, cotton, glassine, paper, Cellophane, parchmentized paper, etc. As here shown, said body portion I2 is pleated, the pleats l4 extending lengthwise transversely of said body portion between the opposite side edges thereof. Elastic edging strips I 6 are secured by lines of stitching I8 to said opposite sides, in edge to edge relation therewith respectively, of the body portion [2 and, as here-shown, are adapted to fit a frame in which the top is smaller than the bottom. The body portion of said cover comprises a rectangular blank of material, such as that illustrated in Fig. 10. The elastic edging strips l6 are composed preferably of flat bands of longitudinally extensible and contractible textile material, including longitudinally extending rubber threads. Said bands in unstretched condition are considerably shorter than the side edges of the body portion l2, said edging strips I B extend laterally beyond the side edges of said body portion. As indicated, in Fig. 10 the elastic edging l6 for the top edge l3 of the blank [2 is shorter than the elastic edging strip I 6 for the bottom edge [5 of said blank, since the top edge of the shade cover is smaller than the bottom edge thereof in correspondence to the top and bottom edges of the lamp shade frame. After the elastic strips are stitched to the blank, the ends of blank and strip are stitched together forming the tube-like structure. The last mentioned stitching is indicated at l! in Fig. 1. Said elastic may be oval in cross section instead of fiat.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the lamp shade cover [0 is illustrated as applied to a lamp shade frame 28.

Said frame, as here shown, comprises a bottom circular wire member 22 and a top circular wire member 24 of smaller diameter than said member 22 and carrying a bridge 26 for attachment to the'standard of a lamp base. The foundation body 28 of the frame consists of suitable material, such as translucent paper or parch-.

mentized paper, or stiffened cloth or fabric, such as buckram, which is woven sufficiently loosely or is otherwise constituted to permit the passage of light therethrough and yet conceal the lamp bulb. Said body 28 is securedto the frame rings 22 and 24 in any suitable way, as by an adhesive or by metal staples, in accordance with the usual practice of making lamp shades of this type. The upper and lower edges 30 and 32 of the frame body 28 are serrated or otherwise irregular whereby to prevent inovement of the cover circumferentially of the frame.

As illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2, the size of the frame is such that the elastic edging strips l6 at the top and bottom of the cover overlap both the body 28 and the rings 22 and 24, it being understood that the amount of overlap on the body and rings of the frame may be varied, there being more or less at the top or bottom as may be desired, for the same size of frame. In the case of smaller frames, and as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7, for example, the elastic edging strips, for the same size cover as that used for the larger frame shown in Fig. 2, may be positioned so that it is mostly or entirely internally. of the frame at the bottom and top thereof.

In Figs. 5 and 7 the frame is' of the type which comprises side wires 34 in addition to the top and bottom rings 36 and 38. A spring clamp 40 for supporting the frame on a lamp bulb is carried by the top ring 36. In this type of frame, usually no fabric or similar foundation is permanently mounted on the wire frame elements and for this reason the cover l2 should be made of material which will permit the passage of light and yet conceal the lamp bulb. On the other hand, when the cover is applied to a frame of the type illustrated in Fig.- 2, it may be made of relatively sheer material since the fabric body foundation 28 of the frame is effective to conceal the lamp bulb from view. The frames of the side wire type, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7, when used with covers of the present invention, should preferably be provided with means to prevent circumferential displacement of the cover on the frame. Numerous expediencies may be resorted to for this purpose; for example, the top and bottom rings may be roughened by indenting the same or by coating them with particles of sand or emery in a glue binder. In Fig. 6 the lamp shade cover [2 is shown mounted on a rectangular frame 42 which may be of any suitable construction. Thus, it is seen that the cover I2 may be utilized for many different types and shapes of frames, and that for frames of diiferent sizes within certain limits a lamp shade cover of the same size may be used. It will be understood that when the cover is applied to the frame, the elastic edging strips I6 are placed under tension and thereby hold the body portion of the cover in engagement with the frame. In the form of the invention just described, the provision of the pleats in the body portion of the cover enables the latter to fit frames of different sizes and shapes, including concave frames, since said pleats can be extended and gathered more or less depending upon the size of the frame to which the cover is applied, and the cover will conform to the shape of the frame.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 8, the body portion 44 of the lamp shade cover 43 is made of fiat unpleated sheet material. On this account itis preferable to cut the blank from which said body portion is made in trapezium form in order to prevent wrinkles in the body portion and to avoid an excess of gathered material at the side edges to which the elastic strips 46, which are similar to and may be the same as the edging strips I 6, are attached. However, elastic edging strips 46 are secured to the body portion 44 under tension as they are, like the edging strips l6, initially somewhat shorter than the side edges of the body portion 44 of the cover. The shade cover 43 is mounted on a frame 48 comprising wire elements on which a foundation or frame body 50 of any suitable material, such as parchmentized paper, is secured in accordance with any usual or preferred method.

Multi-ply 'or laminated material may also be used and more particularly there may be utilized a base layer of fabric or other sheet material covered with Cellophane or similar transparent or translucent material pleated together whereby the pleats are arranged substantially like the pleats l4 with marginal edge portions of the Cellophane folded over the opposite side edges of the base layer. Also, the body portion of said cover may be made of stockinet or other suitable tubular material. The stockinet is conventionally a knit material which is extensible and contractable whereby its periphery may be adjusted for resilient engagement with the frame peripherally thereof. Stockinet or other materials or combinations of material may be'used whereby the body portion of the shade, with or without the elastic edging strips, is extensible and contractable for resilient engagement with the frame. Thus, the body portion may be made of knit or woven elastic textile material such as "Lastex, or may be made of inelastic material with one or more sections of Lastex or other elastic material inserted between the ends of the inelastic material and extending from the top edge to the bottom edge of the shade. Where more than one section of elastic material'is utilized together with the inelastic material, the elastic and inelastic sections will preferably be positioned in the peripheral direction of the shade cover, so that an elastic section is disposed between two inelastic sections.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 9, the lamp shade cover is reversible. For that purpose, it is preferably composed of a body portion consisting of two or more, here shown as two layers 52 and 54 of suitable material to which the edging strips 56, similar to or the same as the edging strips l6, are secured by lines of stitching 58. Obviously, either of said layers may be positioned on the outside of the cover. Said layers 52 and 54 may be pleated or may be fiat. If ,desired and especially when the reversible feature is not utilized, one of said layers,usually the inner layer 54 may be less transparent than the outer layer 52 so as to conceal the light bulb and, if desired, various ornamental elements may be disposed between said layers and visible through the outer layer 52 which for that purpose may be made of relatively sheer material.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 11 the lamp shade cover 60 is provided with the elastic edging strips 62 which are stitched to the material of the body portion 64 of the cover in such manner as to form a peripheral bead or ridge 66 extending completely around the cover. Said bead or ridge projects inwardly of the cover and is extensible and contractable with the edging strips for resilient engagement with the upper and lower rings 68 and 10, respectively, of the lamp shade frame, said rings being connected to the foundation fabric, such as relatively stiff parchmentized paper-or similar material". The

bead may be formed in any suitable manner.

Thus, as illustrated in Fig. 13, said bead is formed by stitching the edging strips 62 to an inturned edge portion 63 of the body portion 64 by stitching 65 which permits said body and edging to be extended and contracted together with the edging strips and the adjacent edges of the fabric 64. For this purpose, said stitching may be an overlook stitch or may be a cross stitch. Preferably, in securing the edging strips to the material 64, the latter are stitched together on the wrong side and then turned inside out so that the heads will be positioned inwardly of the cover. In Fig. there is illustrated another head formation, and as here shown, a cord I4 is interposed between the material of the shade and the edging strip 62 and stitched together by the extensible and contractable stitching 65. Any other type of bead formation, many of which are at present well known, may be used. The lamp shade cover fill, provided with the beads 66, is applied over the foundation 12 of the frame with the beads 66 in engagement with the frame at'the frame rings 68 and 10 whereby said beads prevent displacement of the cover axially of the frame. As illustrated in Figs. 12 and 14, the lamp shade cover tened together.

- side edges of the shade body portion as in 50 may be applied to a frame in which the rings and the foundation fabric are not directly fas- In this frame construction the will be positioned above the top bead 66 between the latter and the edging strip 62, while the lower ring 82 of the frame will be positioned above the lower bead 66. The parchmentized paper or other relatively stiff foundation fabric 84 extends between the edging strips 62 in engagement with the outer peripheries of the rings 80 and.82. It will be understood that the lamp shades illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12 are ring 80 of the frame peripherally continuous, although only portions of said shades are shown in the drawings for the sake of clearness of illustration. The edging strips 62 may be narrower than the edging strips hereinbefore described, as it is said edging strips be positioned at the top and bottom edges of the shade without overlapping the body portion thereof. In other respects said edging strips may be the same as the edging strips of the other shades hereinbefore described, and like the latter, will lie flat in planes substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the frame.

The present invention may be applied to shades made of relatively stiff material, such as parchmentized paper or stiffened fabric and other similar materials used in the manufacture of lamp shades. In this form of the invention, the elastic edging strips are stitched under tension to the the above described forms of the invention. The edging strips thus stitched to said side edges will fold over the latter in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 7 and 12 due to the tension under which said elastic strips are placed when stitched to the body portion of the shade. However, inasmuch as the material of the body portion of the shade is relatively stiff, said material will not wrinkle or gather by reason of the tension thereon, but will retain its shape even when off the frame, especially when said body portion of the shade is composed of substantially stiff material. However, when the shade cover thus constructed is placed on the frame, the latter will hold the material of the body portion of the shade in the proper form and -any tendency of the material to wrinkle or gather will be prevented by the frame.

The covers hereinbefore referred to are intended for use as the primary cover of the lamp shade and are intended to be applied directly to the frames in the manner described above without the use of stitching or other fastening means. Said covers may also be applied over the covers of complete lamp shades to renovate the latter, thus making it unnecessary to discard the frames of such shades or to remove the old covers therefrom when new shades are desired. As the covers embodying the present invention are inherently capable of being applied and secured to the frames merely by placing the covers on the frames, it is apparent that the tedious and time consuming stitching and other hand operations heretofore required in fitting and attaching a cover to a lamp shade frame are eliminated. It is also apparent that as the covers of the present invention may be applied to frames of different shapes and sizes, it is unnecessary for either the manufacturer or retailer to carry in stock as large a quantity of the various shades as was necessary heretofore. It is also within the scope of the present invention to utilize the covers as protective covers for completed lamp shades of various contemplated that types, and for this purpose said covers may be made of any relatively inexpensive material suitable to afford the desired protection to the completed shade. Numerous other features and advantages of the present invention will also be apparent.

The invention is obviously capable of numerous embodiments and adaptations in addition to those specifically referred to herein, and certain changes in the construction and arrangement of parts in the embodiments herein shown or described will occur to those skilled in the art in view of the present disclosure. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited precisely to the constructions and arrangements herein disclosed, except as may be required by the appended claims considered with reference to the prior'art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cover for a. lamp shade frame having up per and lower peripheral frame members, said cover comprising a body portion of suitable fl'exi--" ble sheet material, said body portion being peripherally continuous and provided with pleats extending between the opposite side edges thereof whereby the peripheral extent of said body portion may be varied to fit frames of different sizes by the gathering and expanding of the pleats, and edging strips of flat elastic fabric secured to the opposite side edges, respectively, of said pleated sheet material of the body portion and extending completely around said body, said elastic strips being stitched at their edges to the adjacent side edges of said pleated material and extending outwardly beyond said side edges of said body portion and disposed externally of the cover and arranged to engage over said frame members and thereby placed under tension to hold the body portion of the cover on the frame.

2.. A cover for a lamp shade frame having upper and lower peripheral frame members, said cover comprising a body portion of suitable flexible sheet material, said body portion being peripherally continuous and provided with pleats extending between the opposite side edges thereof whereby the peripheral extent of said body portion may be varied to fit frames of different sizes by the gathering and expanding of the pleats, and edging strips of flat elastic fabric secured to the opposite side edges, respectively, of said pleated sheet material of the body portion and extending completely around said body, said elastic strips being stitched at their edges to the adjacent side edges of said pleated material and extending outwardly beyond said side edges of said body portion and disposed externally of the cover and arranged to engage over said frame members and thereby placed under tension to hold the body portion of the cover on the frame, said elastic fabric edging strips in unstretched condition being shorter than the body portion edges to which they are respectively secured whereby said edging strips are placed under tension when the cover is put on the frame and thereby hold the cover in engagement with the frame.

3. A lamp shade comprising a frame having upper and lower peripheral members, and a cover for said frame comprising a body portion of suitable fiexible sheet material, said body portion being peripherally continuous and provided with pleats extending between the opposite side edges thereof transversely of said peripheral frame members, and edging strips of flat elastic fabric secured to the opposite side edges, respectively, of said pleated sheet material of the body portion and extending completely around said body, said elastic strips being stitched at their edges to the adjacent side edges of said pleated material and extending outwardly beyond said side edges of said body portions and disposed externally of the cover and arranged to engage over said frame members and thereby placed under tension to hold the body portion of the cover on the frame,

4. A lamp shade comprising a frame having upper and lower peripheral members, and a cover for said frame comprising a body portion of suitable flexible sheet material, said body portion being peripherally continuous and provided with pleats extending between the opposite side edges thereof transversely of said peripheral frame members, and edging strips of flat elastic fabric secured to the opposite side edges, respectively, of said pleated sheet material of the body portion and extending completely around said body, said elastic strips being stitched at their edges to the adjacent side edges of said pleated material and extending outwardly beyond said side edges of said body portion and disposed externally of the cover and arranged to engage over said frame members and thereby placed under tension to hold the body portion of the cover on the frame, said elastic fabric edging strips in unstretched condition being shorter than the body portion edges to which they are respectively secured whereby said edging strips are placedunder tension when the cover is put on the frame and thereby hold the cover in engagement with the frame. 5. A lamp shade comprising a frame having upper and lower peripheral members, and a cover for said frame comprising a body portion of suitable flexible sheet material, said body portion being peripherally continuous and provided with pleats extending between the opposite side edges thereof transversely of said peripheral frame members, and edging strips of flat elastic fabric secured to the opposite side edges, respectively, of said pleated sheet material of the body portion and extending completely around said body, said elastic strips being stitched at their edges to the adjacent side edges of said pleated material and extending outwardly beyond said side edges of said body portion and disposed externally of the cover and arranged to engage over said frame members and thereby placed under tension to hold the body portion of the cover on the frame, one of said elastic edging strips folding over the adjacent peripheral frame member at the top thereof. 

